The Wizard of Venus

Chapter Ten

"You are a most remarkable fellow," said Ero Shan, "but I am commencing to be a little bit afraid of you," he added, laughing.

"You needn't be," I assured him, "for Chand Kabi did not teach me how to harm people physically with these occult powers. He, himself, knew how: he could have caused people at the farthest ends of the Earth to die had he chosen to do so, but he never did. Dear old Chand Kabi never harmed anyone."

"Were I you I should experiment," said Ero Shan. "It might prove useful sometimes to be able to kill one's enemies at a distance. Why, you could win a whole war all by yourself."

"I am content with what I am already able to accom-plish,''

I assured him; "and now if you will devote your-self to meditation for a while, I shall go to work on our fine-feathered friend again."

I did. Presently we heard a great commotion oxerhead.

Thinly, a voice reached us, screaming for help; and we distinctly heard the words, "He is chasing me! He is chasing me!" There was a lot of running, and we could hear other sounds as of funiture being overturned; then, as I relaxed, things quieted down. I heard Ero Shan chuckle.

Once more the warriors came. They peeked in fearfully.

"You are here?" one demanded.

"Do you not see me?"

"But I just saw you up above chasing the vootogan.

Why did you chase him?"

"Just for fun," I said. "It becomes very tiresome sitting here in this little cell."

"You had better put your mind on other things," snapped the warrior, for tomorrow you die. Morgas has had enough of you."

"Well," remarked Ero Shah after they had left, "it was fun while it lasted; but you seem to have been blown up by your own bomb. What are you going to put your mind on now?"

"On Vanaja and the jailer. This may not be so successful as the other experiment, but I can only try. In the mean time, you may devote yourself to silent prayer,"

Ero Shan lapsed into silence, and I went to work on Vanaja and the jailer. I find it more conducive to success to have an accurate picture of my subject's face in my mind while I work on him. Nebulously hopeful, I had fixed the unattractive features of the jailer in my memory.

They were easy to recall, but Vanaja's were easier and much more pleasant.

An hour had elapsed since I had had my last fun with Morgas, and the castle had quieted down again. It was so quiet that I could hear the approach of sandalled feet along the corridor outside our cell.

"He comes? I said to Ero Shan.

"Who?" he asked.

"The jailer with the face of a Gila monster."

The key turned in the lock and the door swung in.

The underdone face of the jailer was poked in. He held a torch above his head. am still here, I said. "If anyone has been chasing Morgas again, it was not I."

"No one has been chasing Morgas again," said the jailer, "but I think he has gone crazy."

"How so.

"He has given orders that you are to be set free. If I were Morgas, I would have your head lopped off. You are a very dangerous person."

"You are not Morgas," I reminded him. "What else did the vootogan order?" I knew, as I had given the orders myself; but I wanted to make certain that the fellow remembered them correctly.

"He ordered me to see that you and your companion and the woman, Vanaia, were put out of the castle immediately. The woman is waiting for you by the garden gate."

"But suppose we don't wish to go?" I asked He looked at me in surprise, and so did Ero Shan. I was not trying to be funny. I just wished to fix his determination to get us out of there. I knew his type of mind: a small mind which a little authority inflated.

Nothing now could prevail upon him to let us remain.

"I have my orders," he said, "I know what to do. If you do not go peaceably, you will be thrown out."

"In that case we will go peaceably," I said.

The jailer threw the door wide and stepped back. "Come," he ordered.

We followed him up and out into the ballium. Vanaja was waiting at the garden gate. "You are going home,"

I said to her.

"Yes," she replied; "I know. Morgas came and told me." That would have surprised Morgas.

We followed the jailer to the main gates, which he unbolted and threw open. There were no guards there, as I had guessed there would not be, for there had been none the morning that we had arrived at the stronghold.

Morgas was very sure of his power.

"Now get out," snapped the jailer, "and I hope that I never see your face again."

"I have the same feeling about yours," I assured him.

We three stepped out into the night and the gates closed behind us. We were free!

"It doesn't seem possible," said Vanaja. "I cannot yet understand why Morgas liberated us."

"He will regret it in the morning," I said, "and we shall be pursued." Knowing that Morgas knew nothing of all this, I knew that in the morning he would be furious when he discovered the trick that had been played on him.

"I should not like to be in that jailer's boots tomorrow morning," said Ero Shan.

"Why?" asked Vanaia. "He was only carrying out Morgas' orders."

Ero Shan did not reply, and I thought it better not to explain. Had I, Vanaja would doubtless have immediately jumped to the conclusion that I was a wizard; and I had good reason to suspect that wizards might not be overly popular with the Pandar family.

As we proceeded down the valley in the direction of until darkness came again and we could continue our flight.

For safety's sake, Ero Shan and I took turns keeping watch toward the mouth of the canyon. From the location of our cave, we could see up the valley a short distance in the direction of Morgas' stronghold; and toward the middle of the morning Ero Shan announced that a party of mounted men was approaching.

Vanaia and I joined him, keeping ourselves well hidden behind a large boulder. Coming down the valley were some twenty-five or thirty warriors mounted on zorats, those amazing creatures that serve as horses upon Venus.

"There's Morgas!" exclaimed Vanaia. "See? He's riding at their head."

It was indeed Morgas. I smiled to think of the fool's errand he had embarked upon and how chagringed he would be could he ever know how close he had been to those he sought.

I smiled too soon. Just opposite the mouth of our canyon, just when I thought that they would ride by, Morgas turned his mount directly toward us; arid the whole party rode straight in our direction.